The end of steam as a centralized game collection platform?

[....]

When steam was released many people had reservations but it all worked out to some extent and valve made a rather practical platform.

So over the years i started to collect games on steam - even paid more to have all my games on one platform and avoided games that used steam as some sort of "hyperlink" to their own platform with an account. I was sure that the games i bought on steam - will stay on steam as they are - that was one of my main reasons for my purchase on steam.

The problem is - more and more publishers and companys seem to either change that themselves afterwards - often years later - or companies buying games and forcing people to make accounts on their own sites. I never agreed to this and i have no real way to get my money back after access was taken away from me - not to mention that my games library is spread out over dozens of third party accounts - after purchase.

This also is a huge issue when it comes to the avaliability of games. Normally i was rather sure that steam wont go down - therfore i was sure to have access to games even if the publishers of a single game will dissapear. But now with more and more third party accounts and launchers that also means - correct me if im wrong - that if a company dissapears i will also lose access to said game even if i bought it on steam since it wont work without the third party account/launcher?

If this is the future of steam i m really starting to question why i should buy further games on steam and not simply - if i really want a game - always use the cheapest shop.

[ElvisDeadly]

Another day another End of Steam thread.......

[....]

Originally posted by ElvisDeadly:

Another day another End of Steam thread.......

Did you even read what i wrote - its not about the "end of steam" its about the end of steam as a centralized game collection platform - which to be honest at least to me is a huge issue. This doesnt mean that steam will dissapear but it means that to me steam is losing one of its main features.

This also in general seems pretty weird to me because if this will continue like this any platform can simply get users by buying a "big" title and binding it to their own platform afterwards and users can either not use the product they bought anymore or open accounts on countless platforms just to have access to the things they bought years ago.

[( ( < < <🤖> > > ) )]

your thoughts are on point... imo

its getting really messy with having to use other game launchers that
want to rope you in to a different lifestyle that you really dont want or need...

sooner or later someone is gonna come up with a program that centralises
and gives the customer a one stop gaming experience.... and then steam
will be no better than a fanatical or gog but that seems to be years away atm.

[ElvisDeadly]

Originally posted by ....:

Did you even read what i wrote - its not about the "end of steam" its about the end of steam as a centralized game collection platform - which to be honest at least to me is a huge issue.

I know, I was being somewhat facetious,

But why is it a huge issue?

Originally posted by ....:

why i should buy further games on steam and not simply - if i really want a game - always use the cheapest shop.

You should buy games wherever you choose, you don't owe Valve anything.

[....]

Originally posted by ElvisDeadly:

Originally posted by ....:

Did you even read what i wrote - its not about the "end of steam" its about the end of steam as a centralized game collection platform - which to be honest at least to me is a huge issue.

I know, I was being somewhat facetious,

But why is it a huge issue?

Originally posted by ....:

why i should buy further games on steam and not simply - if i really want a game - always use the cheapest shop.

You should buy games wherever you choose, you don't owe Valve anything.

You seem to miss my point:
- i want games on one platform not spread out across multiple platforms because:
-- i want my library centralized
-- i want the added "safety net" that even if a single company will vanish for whatever reason i will still have access because steam as the provider will stay (except for games that require always online with third party servers)
-- i trust steam more than other platforms (and i also think that its less likely for steam to go down than for some small company) and i dont want to have countless accounts on platforms i dont trust (and to be honest these days you also lose track because there are so many platforms)

I dont do this because i think i "owe Valve" anything - i do it in my own best interrest.

[J4MESOX4D]

Either buy a console or stop buying AAA games that have extended DRM attached or ones that are crawling up the rear of Tencent.

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by ....:

If this is the future of steam i m really starting to question why i should buy further games on steam and not simply - if i really want a game - always use the cheapest shop.

It always has been the future of Steam. Steam is just a store and launcher, just as the competitors. And while Steam always has been the biggest, that doesn't mean that Steam would always be the most important one. Centralisation and decentralisation is part of just about every market.

That said, I don't understand why people not just go for the cheapest shop anyway. Why rob yourself of money due to launcher loyalty?

Originally posted by ragefifty50:

sooner or later someone is gonna come up with a program that centralises
and gives the customer a one stop gaming experience...

Playnite already exists.

[Kargor]

I'm still using Steam as my only platform -- it's not like I could play every game out there anyway.

[IFIYGD]

GoG Galaxy 2.0 already exists. You can group all of your games from different PC platforms, including Steam, and some console games there as well, to create one big pile of games in one place. You still need to have all of the other platforms you own games on installed, you still need to update games from the platform you bought them on. Galaxy just lets you combine your libraries into one giant heap of games in one place.

It's not new, it's been out for a while now. Steam hasn't died because of it.

[Phoenix]

How are you "collecting" games on Steam, or any DRM-based software distribution platform for that matter? The goal of a collection (as far as i can tell, anyway) is to have access and posession of the items being "collected". Right now you are dependant on one or more other parties to access "your" games.

Strictly speaking you're not even collecting games, you are "collecting" licenses to play games on said platform. Licenses that can be revoked, on a platform that doesn't even guarantee you access to the them.

Don't treat software distribution platforms selling drm-bound licenses as a "game collection platform". It's not.

[ShelLuser]

I have to agree with ElvisDeadly above... another weekend, another "The end of Steam" thread, especially because you didn't seem to have thought this over very much.

Steam as the one platform to rule them all...

Be glad that it isn't! Now, I really love being on Steam (just take a look at my profile and I think you'll see as much) and even consider myself a bit of a fanboy. But competition is the one thing that keeps platforms such as Steam on its toes. If it wasn't for them then you could have kissed your Holiday sales goodbye ages ago.

Sure... there'd be sales to please the masses, but there wouldn't be any outstanding deals like we have now sometimes. You know... up to 70% discount? It happens sometimes, and the one main drive here... competition.

Seriously, I don't like Epic games nor their store. Heck, I don't plan on ever buying something there even if it's free! (I never got the free GTA5 copy (GTA5 is one of my favorite games) nor the free Elite Dangerous copy either).

But I'll be the first to cheer on their existence because competition is what keeps companies in check, especially when there's a healthy balance between the provided products and the interested customers (referring to the law of product & demand).

The 3rd party game launchers

I agree that they can sometimes be annoying. But they don't have to! When I launch Forza 5 (my favorite racing game) or the Mass Effect legendary series (AWESOME game, can't believe I only discovered this 10 years after the facts) then I get into a different launcher. Heck... same applies to Horizons Zero Dawn (another cool action RPG). Heck... R* does the same thing with their GTA5.

The only thing that reminds me of having started a launcher is the short splashscreen and the optional comment that I can activate the other overlay as well (the Origin overlay often does this, also wants me to buy stuff through it).

But....

Isn't the fact that companies go through all those hoops to make their launchers compatible with Steam, to ensure that we can continue to use Steam as normal and don't notice anything of that launcher unless we wanted to... isn't that proof that Steam is still an authority of its own?

The fact that those launchers are available on Steam is proof that it's still the central gaming experience.

Heck... just last month did I decide to try and buy a small Sharkcard using the R* in-game overlay because I was pleased with their new DLC and figured I'd spend approx. E 10 on it. It redirected me straight back into Steam and the Steam storepage, not that of R*.

If a company the size of R* doesn't bother to use their overlay to push down their own narritive then I'm not worried about Steam's future at all.


The fact that those launchers become available on Steam is plain out proof that many competitors still see Steam as the platform to be on. Even if it means having to drastically change your launcher and ditto platform to remain compatible.

[Tev]

This isn't really a new phenomenon though.

Steam, Origin and Uplay existed a long time. Crysis 2 was the last game on Steam for a long while until EA returned to Steam.

Now Ubisoft has ditched Steam after Epic Games Store came to the picture.

Like others have pointed out, you can use GOG Galaxy or Playnite or such to combine all your clients into a single launcher. Most games can still be played as non-Steam regardless of the platform they're on.

It's inconvenient to have multiple logins, but that's how it is nowadays.

Originally posted by ShelLuser:

But I'll be the first to cheer on their existence because competition is what keeps companies in check, especially when there's a healthy balance between the provided products and the interested customers (referring to the law of product & demand)

If they actually competed in terms of features and end-user experience rather than just buying out games forcing me to either suck it up and buy it or not buy it.

[....]

How does using yet another platform that simply combines all others and hides the logins solve my problem?

Also - we live in a time where personal data is pretty much a new ressource worth real money for marketing. I would prefer to have as few accounts as possible.

And no - this phenomenon is new. Games switching accounts/platforms after years is really a new thing. Its okay if a game is released only on EPIC for example - i will just not buy it - but if it switches afterwards thats what i really have an issue with.

Also yes competition isnt a bad thing - but there is no real competition. Just look at all the launchers - they all mainly sell exclusives and most of them are awful and lack even the most basic features. Competition would be if the stores had similar features and sold the same games for the most part. Also to be honest when it comes to this concept i prefer a single big platform i trust to hundreds of small ones i dont trust ...

Last but not least - competition to me means choice - but thats the thing that is missing the most.

[Tev]

"Games switching accounts/platforms", such as what?

Origin and Uplay aren't new, I don't understand why you're trying to pretend it is.

[( ( < < <🤖> > > ) )]

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Originally posted by ragefifty50:

sooner or later someone is gonna come up with a program that centralises
and gives the customer a one stop gaming experience...

Playnite already exists.

thanks Crazy Tiger

this is where i will be when it gets real bad....